What does DTK need?

[nms]

For nearly a quarter-century, Ontario's prisons have been overcrowded (and likely before that too).  From a government report 24 years ago (Corrections Population Report: Public Safety Canada (2000))

Ontario reports that remand offenders comprise approximately 40% of the daily count and that this has been approximately a 10% increase in the past 10 years. In addition, the length of stay has increased by 2 to 3% during that same time period. The Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General has established "Video Remand Programs" in several communities. This allows the offender to attend their remand hearing without having to be transported to court. Involvement in this program is voluntary.

11 years ago (2013) nearly half of Ontario's prisons were overcrowded (CBC). (14 of 29 prisons)

The new [in 2013] facilities will bring in 280 net new beds to what is currently a 9,020-bed system that last year housed an average 8,806 people each day.

The province says most of those inmates were held on remand — awaiting a bail hearing or trial. It's a cohort which has surged to nearly two-thirds of the provincial penal population today from one-third back in 1996.

In 11 years, with 7 years of Conservatives in power, and 5 years of Liberals in power before that, the prison system had a net loss of 1452 beds.  By last year (2023) (Toronto Star), most jails were overcapacity.

As of Sept. 30, 2023, there was an average of 8,889 people in provincial jails, well over the 7,848-person capacity. Overall, the jails were operating at 113 per cent capacity at that time.

Most of Ontario's institutions were over capacity in 2023, the data shows.

Maplehurst Correction Complex in Milton, Ont., was the most overcrowded last year, with an average inmate population of 1,188 but official capacity for 887 – meaning it was operating at 134 per cent capacity in 2023.

 

What has led to this? (from the same Toronto Star article) Delayed bail hearings brought on by a justice system which has not found enough "like-minded judges" to fill the benches and more conservative Crown attorneys arguing against bail:

Meanwhile, an overwhelming number of inmates held – 81 per cent, the government said – are awaiting trial and presumptively innocent.

Also buried in that Toronto Star article, reducing the prison population doesn't actually produce a general increase in crime:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a concerted effort to reduce jail numbers when it became clear by April 2020 that the novel coronavirus spread rapidly in congregate settings.

The average number of inmates dropped to 6,661 in 2020, from an average of 8,049 in 2019, the data shows.

Bytensky, of the Criminal Lawyers Association, said there wasn't a subsequent jump in crime rates. In fact, he said, there was a significant drop in crime during the pandemic with a few exceptions like a surge in domestic violence charges.